‘Putin’s brain’ and his daughter, who was killed in a car explosion: All you need to know

Darya Dugina (29), the daughter of influential Russian political theorist Alexander Dugin, was killed in a car explosion on the outskirts of Moscow on Sunday (August 21). According to reports, the Toyota Land Cruiser that Darya was driving exploded due to a bomb planted in the SUV.

The car bomb explosion is being seen as an attempt to tick off Russian President Vladimir Putin, who reportedly considers Alexander Dugin to be his spiritual guide. Some even say that Dugin's vision of a ‘revived Russian World’ influenced Putin's decision to launch the military operation in neighbouring Ukraine.

Swinging into action, the Russian authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the explosion. Like her father Dugin, Darya Dugina was also an advocate for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Dugina and her father have openly said that Russia can only thrive if Ukraine is destroyed. Therefore, the Kremlin has already started talking about Ukraine's hand in the explosion. In a statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, “If the Ukrainian trace is confirmed... then we should talk about the policy of state terrorism implemented by the Kyiv regime.”

Earlier, in March, the United States had imposed sanctions on Darya Dugina after her stint as the chief editor for United World International, which the Treasury Department categorised as a disinformation site. Later, in July, the United Kingdom too followed suit.

Alexander Dugin is an ultra-nationalist political theorist. He is also an author and ideologue who allegedly encouraged Putin to start a war with Ukraine. This is probably why Dugin was referred to as Putin's brain by Foreign Affairs magazine, a publication out of the US. In a 2017 CNN interview, Dugin said that Putin served as an inspiration for then-US President Donald Trump.

Dugin was placed on Western sanctions lists in 2015 after Russia's assertion of Crimea. He was described as a key proponent of the Kremlin's forced annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Alexander Dugin is also seen as the leader of the Eurasian Youth Union, an organisation that recruited individuals with military experience to fight on behalf of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. According to the US Treasury Department, Eurasian Youth Union has a covert presence in Ukraine.